


Starting Fresh

by nerdywriter36



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Love Never Dies - Lloyd Webber, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: Beneath a Moonless Sky, E/C, F/M, Fix It Fic, Fluff, No Smut, They don't do the do, but it's implied, i'll post chapters whenever i get the time to continue this lovely story, innuendos? but not really?, love never dies au, more tags to come as we go, pure couples content, this is what would have happened if erik had stayed the heck in bed, updates wont be consistent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26096842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdywriter36/pseuds/nerdywriter36
Summary: If Erik didn't leave that night beneath a moonless sky.
Relationships: Christine Daaé & Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera
Comments: 14
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

Erik lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling of the room that Adele Giry had provided him with as he tried to plan out his next move. For once, running from his enemies, his past, his demons wasn’t an easy decision, and it was all because of the woman lying in his arms. 

Because of her. 

The last few days had all been a blur. Though not much stuck out besides the ultimatum he had given to Christine and the battle with the Vicomte for her affections...and the two kisses she gave him. After that - after he watched them go - it was all dark; he had simply gone through the motions to escape the mob, taken Madame Giry’s offer of sanctuary without question. Without her, nothing mattered to him. 

But then, she came back. 

The Girys - Adele and her nosy little daughter - had gone out to begin looking for ways to arrange passage out of Paris, having told Erik they would be gone that night and the following day. What they had failed to tell him about, though, was the visitor that would also be spending the night in their home… 

~ 

_“Why are you here?” Erik asked, keeping his voice quiet as he made an effort to ensure it wouldn’t break as he stared at her - **her**. _

_“I-I had to see you for myself,” Christine said meekly. Her feet were shuffling on the carpet, a curl twirled around her finger, he noticed; she was nervous._

_“To confirm that I was as broken and humiliated by my actions as you presumed I was? Well, here you are. Now go.” Oh, but how badly he wanted her to stay._

_Before he could make another move, though, she was standing in front of him, her hands gripping his lapels to keep him in place before her. “I came because I feel terrible about how we parted. I care for you too much to allow us to part ways on such horrific terms, no matter what happened,” she admitted, looking up at him with her brown eyes filled with tears._

_His heart ached to see her in such pain, knowing he had caused that. So it was then that he made a move to do what he wished he could have done so many times before; he reached up to brush a stray tear from her cheek and wrapped a shaky arm around her waist to hold her close to his chest. He could not even believe he was doing it; his heart was beating so hard against his chest that he was sure she could feel it, tell how nervous he was._

_“To leave you...to have to watch you go knowing what I had done to you brought on a feeling of guilt and heartbreak as I have never known before,” he whispered. “I could apologize a thousand times over and it will never be enough to make me worthy of your forgiveness, but you must know, my angel, that I truly am sorry.”_

_She nodded silently, her hand lifting to brush his cheek just briefly. “I know you are. I can see it in your eyes,” she said softly._

_And then, hardly a moment after she’d spoken, her lips met his._

~ 

Erik couldn’t help but smile at that. She’d **kissed** him again, of her own free will, with no life on the line. That one kiss still shocked him, never mind what followed; their kisses quickly growing more passionate, their stumbling feet as they found their way back to his bedroom. Christine’s quiet sigh when his kisses trailed from her lips to her neck. Her fingers swiftly undoing the buttons of his shirt and trousers and- 

He shook his head to clear his mind when he felt his face flush; he couldn’t make a plan to leave if he reflected all the compelling reasons for him to stay. 

Turning his head, Erik couldn’t help but sigh and smile fondly at the sight of Christine sleeping next to him; her brown curls were messy and strewn about across her pillow, her lips pursed slightly and still swollen from his kisses the night before. 

Just looking at her made the thought of getting out of bed horrific. 

But, making up his mind, Erik slowly got to his feet and retrieved his clothes from where they’d been tossed about. Slipping his drawers on, he picked up his shirt to straighten it out and-

“Erik?”

He froze at the sound of her voice. Why he had not considered the potential for her to wake up, he couldn’t say. Now, though, hearing her use his true name rather than a mere title made an already difficult decision even harder to make. 

“Yes?” he made himself ask, though he kept his back to her, knowing that if he turned back to gaze upon what was forbidden to him, he would be no different from the wife of Lot; like a pillar of salt, stuck in place as he looked back at what he desired most out of anything. 

“What are you doing? W-where are you going?” Christine asked quietly. 

With a sigh, Erik simply shook his head as he slipped his shirt on. “Just go back to sleep my angel,” he replied, hardly able to make himself say the words. 

A moment of silence passed before Christine came to the inevitable realization: “Are you...leaving?” 

“Christine…” Erik sighed as he finally turned back to face her. She was sitting up now, the bedsheets wrapped around her torso. He almost had to laugh; for once, they were completely exposed around each other, both physically and emotionally speaking. And yet, his heart ached as he watched the walls they had finally broken down quickly start to be rebuilt. “I didn’t-” 

“You didn’t what? Think? Consider how I would feel when I woke up and found you **gone**?” Christine demanded. 

There was something in her eyes, Erik noticed, something he recognized. The same fire and anger and...heartbreak from that night beneath the Opera House. It was a look he had never wanted to see again, especially not after witnessing her look at him with the adoration and longing as she had the night before. 

“Please, Christine, I’m-” 

“I gave you everything, both last night and in all those days before that!” Her perfect voice was breaking, tears filling her eyes. “I gave you my heart, my soul, my voice, and now, I have given **myself** to you in every sense of the word! That is only meant to be given to my husband - the man I am supposed to marry in a matter of hours - but I gave it to you because I **love** you and wanted to share it with you and only you, now and for the rest of my life! But if you are too stubborn and blind to accept that, then just...just go.” 

Erik’s eyes were wide, not having heard a word after those three words he never thought she would say to him flowed from her lips. 

“Y-you...what?” he breathed, his brow creasing as he looked back at her with eyes pleading for an answer, for confirmation. 

“I love you,” she whispered as she climbed out of bed, the sheet left behind as she walked over to him and took his hand when he tried to take a step away from her. “Please believe me when I say that, Erik, please.” 

“I...I just never could have dreamed you would say those words to me,” Erik replied. His eyes, now filled with tears of his own, were locked on hers, even as her hands slid over his chest and pushed his shirt off of his shoulders again. 

She smiled up at him, then took a step back and slipped her engagement ring off, gently setting it down atop the dresser. “It’s not a dream, my angel,” she said softly. 

“Then let me say how much I love you too,” Erik whispered, reaching her side in two strides and cupping her face in his hands to pull her into a kiss. “And if you’ll let me, I would be happy to show you as well.” 

“Oh, please do.” 

* * *

“Well,” Christine said, glancing at the small alarm clock on the nightstand before she set her head back on Erik’s chest, “I am officially late for my own wedding.” 

Erik laughed quietly at that. “You don't sound all that bothered about leaving the boy at the altar.” 

“That’s not it,” Christine said softly. “I do love Raoul, but...not the same way I love you, I’ve realized. Not to mention that I would have had to abandon music had I married him, and his family never has and never will approve of me.”

“Well, they have no idea what they are missing,” Erik replied as he tipped her chin up to lean down and kiss her. It was a gentle gesture, lazy almost, both parties too deep in a state of bliss and pleasant tiredness to initiate anything more passionate. 

“Besides, I have what I need here; love and music...and you.” 

Erik couldn’t help but smile, gently brushing a stray curl from her face. “And I have you to love and keep my bed warm and entertain me at night with your sleep talking.” 

Gasping quietly, Christine lifted her head to look him in the face. “I do nothing of the sort!” 

“Oh, my angel, you do,” Erik replied with a quiet laugh. “Not much of it makes sense, but it is noticeable when it’s right by my ear.” 

“Well, you know what else is noticeable? You're constantly moving while you sleep!” Christine retorted, trying to sound annoyed despite the giggles breaking up her sentence. 

“How is that possible? I am a very still sleeper; I learned to be over the years for my own safety,” Erik said, his smile only growing when he saw how happy Christine was. 

“You’ve clearly forgotten how to do it because you must have shifted a hundred times.” 

Erik scoffed and shook his head. “I refuse to believe it.” 

As the couple’s laughter died down and they fell silent again, Erik noticed that Christine was simply looking at him with a warm smile. “What is it?” he asked. 

“Your smile - your genuine smile. I’ve never seen it before,” she said softly. “And I love it,” 

“Well, as soon as we figure out a way to escape, I will be smiling much more often,” Erik replied as he kissed her. “I’m sorry we can’t stay in France, but if something more was to happen to you because of me, I would never forgive myself.” 

Christine smiled at him, cupping his marred right cheek in her hand. “Where you go, I will be,” she whispered. “Now, if you go and make us something to eat, I am going to go wash up. You **can** cook, can’t you?” 

“Yes, my dear, I can cook,” Erik chuckled as he kissed her again. “But I will go make us something. Take your time.” 

* * *

Having decided to make simple eggs and toast along with a pot of tea, Erik started to plate their meal just as he heard Christine’s quiet footsteps behind him as she stepped into the kitchen. 

“I vouched for a quick and easy meal rather than-” he began as he turned around, only to trail off when he saw her and more specifically, what she was wearing. 

Christine smiled sheepishly at him, her cheeks turning a dusty pink shade as she tugged at the hem of his dress shirt that she wore. 

“I didn’t want to get into my corset and dress just yet. This was the easiest option,” she said softly. “I can take it off and go change if you would prefer-” 

“No, no, it’s fine, don't worry,” Erik said quickly, stepping over and kissing her. “I was just...pleasantly surprised, that’s all.”

“Good,” Christine said softly. She gently kissed him again before she sat at the table and waited for him to join her before she started to eat. “So if I know you at all, you’ve already planned out the way we’re going to escape and are just waiting to pass it by me.”

Erik smiled slightly, mindlessly stirring his tea. “You would be correct,” he replied. “My thought was to leave as soon as we can - possibly even today - and travel to England...then possibly cross the ocean to America. To New York. We cannot stay in Paris, and I fear that even England will be too close if the gendarmes discover that you are with me. Even telling Adele and Meg could prove dangerous. I will leave a note telling them that I decided to escape on my own. No one needs to know where you have gone.” 

“Won’t Raoul send out people to look for me? For you as well? Surely people will pick out my name when we try to leave.” 

“Not if you operate with a fake name and keep your face concealed as much as possible. We’ll be fine; I will do anything and everything to keep you safe, my angel.” 

Christine smiled, pulling her chair closer to his so she could wrap her arms around him and lean her head on his shoulder. “I know you will,” she said softly. “This is going to be quite the adventure, but I look forward to it in some strange capacity.” 

“I have a feeling that, as long as we have each other, we are going to be okay,” Erik replied, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I love you, Christine.”

“And I love you more, Erik.”


	2. Starting Fresh (Pt. 2) - Christine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> christine's take on that night beneath a moonless sky

It was still dark when Christine opened her eyes, telling her she hadn't been sleeping as long as she thought she had. A quick glance out of the window - which had surprisingly been left without the curtains drawn - confirmed her suspicions; she could see the glittering stars, but the moon was noticeably absent, making everything significantly darker than it would be on a normal night. She found that fact only amplified the lingering sense of sensuality in the room she had woken up in; the moonless sky on top of the pleasant heaviness of her entire body and the feeling of the sheets against her bare skin. That simple reminder of the night she had had was enough to make her blush, and she turned her head to look at the very man she had shared that night with.

_Erik._

She could finally put a name to the face of the man that she had adored for so long; he was no longer the Angel of Music or the Phantom. He was Erik; a mortal man with flaws and talent and the greatest capacity to love she had ever seen in a human, despite it having been so long suppressed. The man that she realized she had come to love even more than the man she was intended to marry in only a few hours' time.

She hadn't expected her evening to take the turn that it had; she had come to visit Meg and her mother with a desire for one last night of familiarity before she married Raoul and her whole life changed completely. True, she had been disappointed to discover that the pair was leaving that evening and wouldn't be back until late the next day, but they had offered for her to stay in their home for the night so she could enjoy the feeling of a familiar bed.

Little did she know that they had left out one critical detail…

~

 _Christine couldn't believe her eyes. For a moment, when they had first locked eyes, she had tried to convince herself that it couldn't have possibly been him; she told herself that the mob had gotten to him that night when she left him and that they had dragged him away to prison or beaten him or every other horrific scenario her mind could create._ Then again _, she thought,_ Who else could it possibly be? _No other man carried himself the way he did - with such grace and confidence - and there was certainly no other man who looked like him. So it was him...standing in the same room as her, his gaze stuck on her._

 _She hadn't thought he would really be there. In truth, she hadn't just gone to the Girys' for the sake of a familiar home and bed to stay in the night before her wedding; she had gone to them with the hope of finding any information she could about her Angel's whereabouts. She just hadn't expected him to actually_ be _there._

 _"_ _Why are you here?" he asked. His voice was quiet, she noticed; he was nervous. Or emotional, perhaps. She was never quite sure with him._

 _"_ _I-I had to see you for myself," she replied. She knew she couldn't lie to him because she knew he would see right through her. She was also well aware of the fact that her shuffling feet and nervous habit of twirling her hair would give away how anxious she was about their interaction, but she knew that any attempt to hide those same ticks from him would give him away even faster._

 _"_ _To confirm that I was as broken and humiliated by my own actions as you presumed I was?" he demanded. "Well, here you are. Now go."_

_Christine wasn't sure what compelled her to move, but before she could convince herself not to, she rushed over to him and gripped the lapels of his jacket tightly in her hands, resting her head against his chest. She wasn't going to let him leave; she couldn't lose him again._

_"_ _I came because I feel terrible about how we parted. I care for you too much to allow us to part ways on such horrific terms, no matter what happened," she admitted, tears pooling in his eyes as she looked up at him and found his own rich brown eyes looking back at her, the tears welling in them making the flecks of gold stand out more than they normally did._

_Her heart skipped a beat when the backs of his fingers brushed her cheek to wipe a tear away while he wrapped his opposite arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest. She had never felt so secure, so warm and wanted before; not even with Raoul, who she had so long pictured as the man who could give her the security she truly wanted and needed. Now, with Erik holding her close, she realized how wrong she had been and cursed herself for not realizing it sooner._

_"_ _To leave you...to have to watch you go knowing what I had done to you brought on a feeling of guilt and heartbreak as I have never known before," he whispered. "I could apologize a thousand times over and it will never be enough to make me worthy of your forgiveness, but you must know, my angel, that I truly am sorry."_

_Christine simply nodded as she lifted her hand to brush his cheek just as he had done to her a moment ago. "I know you are. I can see it in your eyes," she said softly._

_And then, setting her hand to his cheek and feeling him lean into her touch, Christine leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. She felt him stiffen, though she wasn't surprised, given that it was probably the last thing he had expected her to do._

_"_ _Christine, what are you doing?" he asked as he gently pushed her away, his hands on her shoulders, eyes wide and searching her face for an answer._

 _"_ _I want to do this; this isn't out of pity or anything, please don't misunderstand," Christine replied, praying she wouldn't have put him off and driven him away just when she had gotten him back. "Please, Angel, I-"_

 _"_ _Erik," he interjected. "My name is...is Erik."_

_Christine couldn't help but smile at that revelation. "Erik," she repeated softly, her lips ghosting over his as she tested the name out before she claimed his lips once more._

_~_

That same smile graced Christine's face as she reminisced about that moment while she looked at the man who slept beside her. He had never looked so at peace before, though given the little she knew of his life, she figured that to sleep meant to look vulnerable, which he couldn't afford. Still, she was fortunate that with her, he would let his walls down.

He lay on his stomach, the marred side of his face pressed into his pillow. Christine wondered if he had simply trained himself to sleep without that side of him exposed out of desperation to seem normal whenever he could. Whatever the reason behind it was, she couldn't exactly complain; the unblemished side of his face, with the sharp brow and cheekbone, his structured nose, and his cheek still flushed slightly from their previous endeavours, made him all the more handsome to her.

The bedsheets were draped low around his waist, leaving his back exposed to her gaze. In the dim light through the open window, she could see the faint outline of scars all across his skin, and she reached over to confirm her suspicions by brushing her fingers along them. She couldn't imagine what had caused them, and didn't want to resurrect any of his deep-seated trauma that was so obvious by asking; all she knew was that her heart ached to think anyone had ever hurt him in such a way.

Her attention was drawn back to his face when she noticed he had started to snore quietly, making her giggle before she could stop herself. It was such a simple, human thing, but something about it coming from him amused her. She had never associated such normal things with a man like him, who she had so long thought of as not of this world, but with every passing moment, both of them completely exposed to one another, made her realize more and more that he was no angel; instead, he was simply a man that had captured her heart, and she couldn't have been more pleased.

Feeling her eyelids beginning to grow heavy once more, Christine put her observations to an end for the night and snuggled into her lover's side once again. A small smile formed on her face when she felt Erik drape his arm over her, seemingly rousing enough to press a kiss to her forehead before he dozed off again.

_This is where I need to be. Here, in his arms, never to be alone again._

* * *

The bliss didn't last, though; it seemed to come to an abrupt end when Christine woke to the shifting of the mattress and the rustling of the bedsheets, only to sit up and find Erik getting dressed again.

"What are you doing? W-where are you going?" she asked, wrapping the sheets tightly around her bare torso.

She furrowed her brows when he simply sighed and shook his head, the move almost imperceptible. "Just go back to sleep, my angel," he replied as he slipped his shirt on.

Christine simply watched him for another moment, only to feel her heart seemingly drop into the pit of her stomach when the realization finally dawned on her. "Are you...leaving?"

"Christine…" she heard Erik say as he turned around. The look on his face was a broken one, and Christine had no doubt that it was mirrored on her own face, but her expression was quickly fading into an angry one rather than one of heartbreak. "I didn't-"

"You didn't what? Think? Consider how I would feel when I woke up and found you **gone**?" she asked. It felt good to unleash the emotion and anger she was feeling with him, she realized; for so long, she had felt the need to dance around him when she thought he really was an angel, not wanting to displease him and drive him away. Now that she knew the truth, though, there was no holding back, just as it had been on that fateful night beneath the Opera.

"Please, Christine, I'm-"

Christine shook her head, lifting a finger to stop him as a few of her tears spilled over onto her face. "I gave you everything, both last night and in all those days before that! I gave you my heart, my soul, my voice, and now, I have given **myself** to you in every sense of the word! That is only meant to be given to my husband - the man I am supposed to marry in a matter of hours - but I gave it to you instead because I **love** you and wanted to share it with you and only you, now and for the rest of my life! But if you are too stubborn and blind to accept that, then just...just go."

She hung her head, looking down at her lap as she fought to keep her breaths steady despite the tears in her eyes. _Has this all been a mistake?_ she wondered. _What is there to stop him from leaving? He got what every man wants, didn't he? To lie with a woman? He could leave now and I could be left here to possibly bear his child and-_

"Y-you...what?" she heard him say, his quiet words breaking through her thoughts. Looking up again, Christine saw Erik looking back at her, the same pleading look in his eyes that she recognized from the very first time she met him.

"I love you," she whispered again, reaffirming the statement for the both of them as she left the sheet on the bed and got to her feet to walk over to him. He tried to take a step away from her, but she reached out to take his hand and pull him back towards her, having no plan to let him get away if she could help it. "Please believe me when I say that, Erik, please." Never before had she been so desperate for someone to listen to her.

"I...I just never could have dreamed you would say those words to me," Erik said quietly, his tear-filled eyes locked on hers.

Christine knew she had to reassure him of her affections; reinforcement about how people felt about him was something she realized he needed. To help him understand, she set her hands on his bare chest and ran her hands over his skin to push his shirt off of his shoulders, then wrapped them around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair at the nape.

"It's not a dream, my angel," she said softly as she stepped away from him and slipped Raoul's engagement ring off of her finger and set it down on top of the dresser in the room. He had watched her every move as she did, she'd noticed, and the look in his eyes - one of amazement and relief and adoration all at once - warmed her heart.

"Then let me say how much I love you too," he whispered as he quickly stepped over to her side and pulled her into a kiss, gently holding her face in his hands while he did. "And if you'll let me, I would be happy to show you as well."

"Oh, please do," Christine whispered back, smiling as he kissed her again and gently walked forward until her legs hit the mattress and she fell backwards, Erik bracing his hands on the bed so he didn't crush her. A sigh escaped her as he pressed a kiss to her neck, but they both paused when he lifted his head and they bumped noses when he went to kiss her again, making them both laugh quietly.

"I love you," Erik said softly, a warm smile on his face.

"I love you more, Erik," Christine replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to press her lips to his once more.


End file.
